* <see name="Donald Young Gallery" alt="" address="933 W Washington Blvd" directions="" phone="+1 312 455-0100" email="" fax="" url="http://donaldyoung.com/" hours="Tu-F 10AM-5:30PM, Sa 11AM-5:30PM" price="">Donald Young's gallery is ''the'' place to experience video/film art in Chicago, and the member artists include such big-names as Sol Lewitt, Richard Serra, Jeff Koons, Don Flavin, and Bruce Nauman. Exhibits tend towards the very experimental and are often neither for the fainthearted nor the easily outraged, but keep in mind that they also often rival exhibits at the world's top contemporary art museums.</see>

* <see name="Donald Young Gallery" alt="" address="933 W Washington Blvd" directions="" phone="+1 312 455-0100" email="" fax="" url="http://donaldyoung.com/" hours="Tu-F 10AM-5:30PM, Sa 11AM-5:30PM" price="">Donald Young's gallery is ''the'' place to experience video/film art in Chicago, and the member artists include such big-names as Sol Lewitt, Richard Serra, Jeff Koons, Don Flavin, and Bruce Nauman. Exhibits tend towards the very experimental and are often neither for the fainthearted nor the easily outraged, but keep in mind that they also often rival exhibits at the world's top contemporary art museums.</see>

Contents

Understand

Many of Chicago's most beloved cultural landmarks were created on the Near West Side. The Chicago-style hot dog, the deep dish pizza, the immigrant port of entry, the blues, the Blues Brothers, the labor movement, "Cheat You Fair," Jane Addams and the modern concept of social justice — all were born or have roots here. You wouldn't know it from the place today, though, which is dominated the charmless campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC); outside of those areas, seen from the L tracks, stray pieces of the old neighborhoods sit like the last few teeth in the mouth of a punch-drunk prizefighter.

Greektown is quite the popular hang-out

Close to the rail yards and factory jobs, this was Chicago's major port of entry throughout the 1800s and early 1900s. Central to everything was the Maxwell Street Market, which was founded by Jewish immigrants and joined by African-Americans during the Great Migration. Maxwell Street evolved from an open-air market of stalls and pushcarts to become the place where people from everywhere brought discount everything in the quest to make a fortune — and, as the saying went, Cheat You Fair. The deals, the scams, the cheap food and the street performances by future blues legends created a signature Chicago atmosphere for more than 120 years.

However, the desire of Chicago's business community to have a buffer zone between the Loop and the West Side housing projects led to severe changes: first, the new Eisenhower Expressway cut off a slice of the east side, and then the construction of UIC destroyed the homes of more than 5,000 people. The years since have seen the university continue its path of wanton destruction, enabled by the city in every urge. In 1994, they finally managed to raze the market, which was relocated a few blocks east in reduced form, leaving behind something called "University Village", which is rather like Hyde Park re-cast by pod people.

Attractions continue to leave the Near West Side; the Chicago Bulls play on without Michael Jordan at the United Center, and Oprah Winfrey will soon leave residency at Harpo Studios. But the small restaurant strips of Little Italy on Taylor Street and Greektown on Halsted Street have good food and tourist-friendly charm, and the West Loop (sometimes known as the Warehouse District) features the city's most expensive restaurants, a thriving gallery scene, and several hot clubs-of-the-moment.

Get in

By train

There are several train stations on the Near West Side, but they're not very well-placed for destinations other than UIC. Buses are a more direct alternative from most of the city, including the Loop.

The Forest Park branch of the CTA Blue Line has stops near Maxwell Street, Little Italy and Greektown (UIC-Halsted, Racine), UIC (Illinois Medical District) and the Tri-Taylor area (Western). The CTA Green Line and Pink Line have stops within a hike of the West Loop (Clinton/Lake, Morgan) and the United Center (Ashland/Lake), while the Pink Line branches off to the center of UIC and near the edge of Little Italy (Polk).

The city's two regional train hubs, Union Station and Ogilvie/Northwestern Station, are right on the edge of the West Loop. They're generally used by travelers going east over the river to the Loop, but there's no reason you can't walk west instead. See the Loop article for arrival and departure information.

By bus

The CTA runs several bus routes through the West Side:

8 Halsted can be caught as far north as Lakeview. It runs through Greektown and hits the old Maxwell Street.

9 Ashland also runs from far north and on to the south, passing within walking distance of Little Italy and the United Center. It's an all-night route.

12 Roosevelt runs from the Near South to walking distance of Little Italy (exit Halsted, walk south) and Greektown (exit Halsted, walk north).

19 United Center Express runs on game nights for the Bulls and Blackhawks from Michigan & Chicago in the Near North to Madison in the Loop, and express to the UC once it's west of the river. Service starts 90 minutes prior to game time and ends 15 minutes prior to game time, and buses will be waiting to travel the route in reverse after the game.

20 Madison runs all night from the Loop, passing through Greektown and by the United Center.

38 Ogden/Taylor reaches UIC, Maxwell Street, and Little Italy. It will soon become the 157 Streeterville/Taylor, extending into the Near North.

By car

For Greektown, exit I-90/94 east at Adams, or west at Monroe. From the Eisenhower Expressway, exit at Racine, and turn left. Halsted & Adams is three blocks north and six blocks east. If driving in the area in the evening, avoid the blocks around United Center at all costs, as the event traffic is horrendous.

See

The Haymarket Affair(s)
For years before and after, the Haymarket Square at Randolph St and Desplaines St was a bustling market, but on May 4, 1886, police marched on a labor rally, and someone threw a bomb from the crowd, killing seven police officers; for lack of a suspect, the organizer and speakers at the rally were arrested and charged with murder, and four were executed. The case became a seminal moment for the labor movement and free speech in the United States, giving cause to the May Day labor holiday. A statue of a policeman was erected in the square in 1889, but it became a target for anger over the trial, and was moved for safe-keeping after a streetcar rammed into it. By the 1960s, the market was gone, so the statue was returned — bringing the Chicago Police and the Weather Underground together in a tradition of blowing the thing up, repairing it, and blowing it up again. Eventually, it was moved for good. A carefully-worded bronze plaque was installed by the city in 1992, and an abstract sculpture has been in the square since 2004. For a more meaningful memorial, take I-290 west to Des Plaines Avenue in the nearby suburb of Forest Park and Waldheim Cemetery[1].

Harpo Studios, 1058 W Washington Ave (20 Madison bus), ☎+1 312 633-0808, [2]. Morning taping 7AM-11AM, Afternoon taping 11AM-3PM. 'Harpo' is backward for the first name of she who tapes her shows here, Oprah Winfrey. The only way to enter the court of Her Majesty is to be in an audience; reservations are necessary and tickets are hot, so call well in advance of your visit, ideally more than a month before, and be prepared to be flexible. Audience members must be over the age of 18. Programs are taped on weekdays from August through November and then January through May, generally two shows a day. Last-minute reservations may be possible; check the website [3]. The 2010-11 season is her last in Chicago, though, so your time is short.

Jane Addams Hull House Museum, 800 S Halsted St (UIC-Halsted Blue Line), ☎+1 312 413-5353, [4]. Tu-F 10AM-4PM, Su 12-4PM, M,Sa closed. UIC was built on top of the original Hull House, where the prolific writer and reformer Jane Addams lived and worked to help people in need. This museum is dedicated to her memory in two surviving buildings from the complex, now absorbed into the UIC campus, and features exhibits on local history and social justice throughout the world.Free.

National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, 1431 W Taylor St, ☎+1 312 226-5566, [6]. M-F 9AM-5PM, Sa-Su 11AM-4PM. Exactly what the name says; this is a glittering, big-budget facility, moved here from the suburbs a few years ago. The collection pays tribute to more than 200 inductees from many professional sports, with Joe DiMaggio held in highest esteem. Space for event rentals (like fundraisers for Italian-American politicians) outstrips the space for exhibits, though.$5.

Saint Ignatius College Prep, 1076 W Roosevelt Rd, ☎+1 312 421-5900, [7]. Opened in 1869, two years prior to the Chicago Fire, this impressive building is still a working high school. No tours are offered of the interior, but pieces of famous Chicago buildings from the past have been installed around the campus, including murals from the old Chicago Stadium and intriguing ornament from lost Adler & Sullivan and Burnham & Root masterworks. (Next door, Holy Family Church dates from 1857.)Free, though you might call ahead if school is in session.

Galleries

The West Loop has a thriving contemporary art gallery scene that's easy to explore on foot. Start at the corner of Peoria and Washington. The two most prominent galleries are the Donald Young and Kavi Gupta galleries, but the adventurous will be rewarded here — there is a wealth of smaller gallery spaces to be explored even beyond this list.

Donald Young Gallery, 933 W Washington Blvd, ☎+1 312 455-0100, [9]. Tu-F 10AM-5:30PM, Sa 11AM-5:30PM. Donald Young's gallery is the place to experience video/film art in Chicago, and the member artists include such big-names as Sol Lewitt, Richard Serra, Jeff Koons, Don Flavin, and Bruce Nauman. Exhibits tend towards the very experimental and are often neither for the fainthearted nor the easily outraged, but keep in mind that they also often rival exhibits at the world's top contemporary art museums.

Kavi Gupta Gallery, 835 W Washington Blvd (2nd floor), ☎+1 312 432-0708, [12]. Tu-F 10AM-6PM, Sa 11AM-5PM. Kavi Gupta's gallery is generally understood to have been the pioneer of the West Loop gallery phenomenon. Today his collection is still one of the area's most important and features new works from emerging international artists. If you're here, you might as well check out the Bucket Rider Gallery on the same floor or any of the other, smaller galleries in the building.

Do

Michael Jordan locked in eternal dunk in front of United Center

Aloft Loft, 2041 W Carroll #306, ☎+1 773 782-6662 (aloftaerialdance@yahoo.com), [14]. Check website for showtimes. A theater group comprised of... trapeze artists?! The space is run by an "aerial dance" troupe which puts on shows and runs high-flying circus training programs. If you're in town for the week and looking for something really out of the ordinary to do, consider signing up for their Two-Day Beginning Trapeze course ($65). It's in an alley and has no signs, so you'll have to really look for it.

Johnny's Ice House, 1350 W Madison St, ☎+1 312 226-5555, [15]. If one of the local hockey teams inspires you to strap on skates, Johnny's Ice House offers ice skating year-round for people of all experience levels, and the Chicago Blackhawks occasionally stop by.

United Center, 1901 W Madison Ave (20 Madison bus), ☎+1 312 455-4500, [17]. Home of the NBA Chicago Bulls and the NHL Chicago Blackhawks. The United Center doesn't have much in the way of character as a stadium, but the sightlines are great from anywhere in the house, and both teams are on an upswing. Fans of Michael Jordan (who played here from 1996-98) should look for his jersey in the rafters and his statue outside. (Check the statue details — he's wearing stone Air Jordans!) Most games sell out, but it's usually possible to find tickets at or near face value. On off-nights, this is Chicago's second-largest concert venue for big touring bands, the circus (in November), and other random events.Most games start at $38 for upper level seats, concerts closer to $50.

Buy

The New Maxwell Street Market still runs from 7AM-3PM every Sunday (☎ +1 312 922-3100), regardless of season. The much smaller size and higher vendor fees ensure that the original flavor of the world's greatest outdoor market is now only a piece of history, but the New Market has a truly awe-inspiring number of cheap Mexican food along with discount jewelry, t-shirts, random vintage items, suspicious electronics, and other flea market classics, and is a lot of fun.

More traditional retail has been slow to develop for the rest of the Near West Side, with college students being the only relatively affluent consumer group in the area. Even after the spate of expensive residential developments in the West Loop and University Village, it's still under-served for shopping purposes. However, there are a few places worthy of note:

Athenian Candle Co, 300 S Halsted St (UIC-Halsted Blue Line), ☎+1 312 332-6988. M,T,Th,F 9:30AM-6PM, Sa 9:30AM-5PM. It's worth a visit just to gawk at their wall of candles, but the fun in browsing begins with their extensive and eclectic collection of religious/spiritual items, from the Christian to the arcane. Ponder to which category the "Pope holograms" belong.

Barbara's Bookstore, 1218 S Halsted St, ☎+1 312 413-2665, [18]. M-F 9AM-10PM, Sa 10AM-10PM, Su 10AM-8PM. UIC students couldn't ask for better from their campus bookstore. Barbara's is run by book lovers who keep the big, comfortable store well-stocked with titles of all sorts, and this store sees an impressive list of author appearances.

Bennett Wine Studio, 802 W Washington Blvd, ☎+1 312 666-4417. T-F noon-7PM, Sa noon-6PM, Su noon-5PM. Bennett has a strong and established reputation in Chicago for stocking her store with only the most tasteful wines, most of them from small estates and with very reasonable price tags.$10-15.

Lissa on Maxwell, 729 W Maxwell St, ☎+1 312 563-9470, [21]. M-F 11AM-7PM, Sa 10AM-6PM, Su 11AM-5PM. $250 for a dress on Maxwell Street? If you can get over that historical incongruity, you'll discover that this is a pretty cool operation, with talented designers not yet featured in places like Michigan Avenue, and biographies provided for each so you can investigate further.

Eat

Cuisine is a major attraction for the West Side, with two of the city's most celebrated strips: Little Italy (Racine Blue Line) and Greektown (UIC-Halsted Blue Line). Restaurants are almost all that remain of the communities that were there before the bulldozers and redevelopment of the 1960s. Culinary preferences will presumably guide your decision, but all things being equal, Greektown is the better choice, because UIC has more of a presence in the Little Italy area.

Budget

Greek

Also see Drink — the bars in Greektown can be good dinner options, too, unless you're looking for family dining.

Greektown Gyros, 239 S Halsted St, ☎+1 312 236-9310. 24 hours. There's the dinner scene in Greektown, and then there's the long-after-dinner scene. Few places in Chicago will treat you better after you leave a bar at 2AM.$6.

Jim's Original Hot Dog, 1250 S Union St (UIC-Halsted Blue Line), ☎+1 312 733-7820, [24]. 24 hours. Established in 1939, this long-time purveyor of the Maxwell Street Polish was able to move a few blocks away when the last hold-outs were evicted in 2001. Whether it's as good as it used to be is purely academic; it's an original, and it's good.$3-5.

Mario's Italian Lemonade, 1068 W Taylor St (Racine Blue Line). Open May to September only; 11 AM-midnight. If you're dining in Little Italy in the summer, skip dessert at your restaurant and come here instead. Mario's has been selling delicious Italian ice all over Chicago for more than 50 years. There are several flavors, but lemon is the staple.$1-3.

The Patio, 1503 W Taylor St, ☎+1 312 829-0454. Su-Th 10:30AM-11PM, F-Sa 11:30AM-midnight. Another one of the few places serving the fast food classics like Chicago-style hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches here, in the area where they were born.$4-6.

The Soupbox, 500 W Madison Ave, ☎+1 312 993-1019, [25]. M-F 10AM-9PM, Sa-Su 10:30AM-7PM. Ten soups of the day, listed in advance on their website, ranging from original creations to old standbys like Clam Chowder and Cream of Mushroom; sizes include 16oz breadbowls.$5-6.

White Palace Grill, 1159 S Canal St, ☎+1 312 939-7167. 24 hours. A good and reliable all-night diner near Little Italy and the university. Since 1939, and fortunate enough to have avoided displacement.

Mid-range

Greek

Most of the restaurants in Greektown offer free valet parking. You should be able to enjoy a meal for less than $25 at any of these restaurants, although if you'd like to splurge, most of the menus have seafood or lamb options to make that possible.

Athena Restaurant, 212 S Halsted St, ☎+1 312 655-0000, [26]. Su-Th 11AM-midnight, F-Sa 11AM-1AM. Lots of hot and cold appetizers to accompany the entrees, which are a little cheaper and a little less plentiful than the other Greektown restaurants. Nice indoor and outdoor seating.$10-18, family dinners $20 per person.

Greek Islands, 200 S Halsted St, ☎+1 312 782-9855, [27]. Su-Th 11AM-midnight, F-Sa 11AM-1AM. One of the best and probably the biggest Greek restaurant in the city, with about 400 seats. Good standard Greek food: seafood, lamb, and chicken.

Moto, 945 W Fulton Market (Morgan Green/Pink Line), ☎+1 312 491-0058, [41]. Dinner only, Tu-Sa from 5PM. Chefs Homaro Cantu and Ben Roche star on the television show "Future Food", which chronicles their attempts to make things taste like other things you would not normally expect them to taste like, often with an eye toward ending world hunger. Quite a lot of fun, actually. This is their restaurant. Reservations are a good idea; definitely call ahead if you have vegetarian or other dietary requirements.Ten course tasting menu $135, full tour $195.

Drink

Oh Maxwell Street, what have you become? A few generic, upscale sports bars catering to university students and owners of new townhomes oozed in once the blues were gone.

9 Muses, 315 S Halsted St, ☎+1 312 902-9922, [42]. M-F 11AM-2AM, Sa 12PM-3AM, Su 12PM-2AM. More of a modern style than the other Greektown bars and restaurants, but with plentiful portions of food, good outdoor seating, and an enthusiastic late-night dance scene.$13.

Byzantium, 232 S Halsted St, ☎+1 312 454-1227. 6PM-4AM. Another popular bar in Greektown, with plenty of Greek bar food. Scores points for great live music, which may incur a cover of $5-7.

Gennaro's, 1352 W Taylor St, ☎+1 312 243-1035. Th 5-9PM, F-Sa 5-10PM, Su 4-9PM. This is about the only place to drink on Taylor Street that looks like it's more than ten years old. Gennaro's has a full menu of sauce-heavy dishes, but it's best enjoyed for a beer in the great atmosphere of the old, wood-paneled bar.

Jaks Tap, 901 W Jackson Blvd, ☎+1 312 666-1700, [43]. M-W 11AM-midnight, Th-F 11AM-2AM, Sa noon-2AM, Su noon-11PM. A good stop after a game at the United Center. Jaks takes pride in their baby-back BBQ ribs and has more than 40 beers on tap.

Sleep

There are many more hotels in the Loop, close to the Blue Line, and a few places in the Near South will also be fine if you'd like quick access to the West Side.

Chicago Marriott at Medical District/UIC, 625 S Ashland Ave, ☎+1 312 491-1234, [44]. As the name implies, this hotel is close to UIC and Rush University Medical Center, and also to Little Italy. A free shuttle service to the Loop and the usual business amenities are available.Rooms from $209.

Stay safe

Know where you're going, especially at night. Aside from the few major thoroughfares, the Near West Side has long, deserted stretches where help will be difficult to find. On the UIC campus, keep an eye out for kiosks with help phones. Also, while eating in Little Italy, don't fill up on bread; you will be unable to properly enjoy your main dish. (The same risk applies to making pre-emptive grabs for saganaki in Greektown.)

Get out

If you were here for the Blues legacy of Maxwell Street, carry on to Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven in the Near South and the Black Metropolis of Bronzeville, then consider moving on further south to today's home of the Chicago Blues in Chatham-South Shore.

If you prefer a Northern Italian take on pasta or you still aren't full, head to the smaller but more atmospheric "Heart of Italy" near Pilsen.

This is a guide article. It has a variety of good, quality information including hotels, restaurants, attractions, arrival and departure info. Plunge forward and help us make it a star!